Wardrobe



E. H. ELLISON Oct. 16, 1934.

WARDROBE Fiied Dec. 14, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l Hv ELLKSON INVENTOR EDWARD ATTORNEYS E. H. ELLISON Oct. 16, 1934.

WARDROBE Filed Dec. 14, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllllftwlrft VIII/117111!!! INVENTOR HLII l IML I I I HHHU I HI H I I EDWARD H.

ATTORNEY S Oct. 16, 1934. ELLISON 1,977,474

WARDROBE Filed Dec. 14. 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 as fifib- 91 9a 15] 38 4- 48 Q I i' 51 50 v 1'!" IE 21 21 4- 4 l 45 45 1 27 41 a9 46 44 I 42 29 4o '56 INVENTOR EDWARD H. ELLISON ATTORNEY S E. H. ELLISON WARDROBE Filed Dec. 14. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 z m w y W ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 16, 1934 UNITED stares WARDROBE Edward H. Ellison, Jamestown, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Austral Window Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Maine 7 Application December 14, 1931, Serial No. 580,924

Claims.

This invention relates to wardrobes and more particularly to those types of wardrobes which are constructed as a permanent part of a building, such as schoolroom wardrobes and arranged 5 to shut oif a small portion of the room, as an end, for wardrobe purposes, the doors of which are supported on radius hinges and adapted to be opened wide and give ready access to a number of persons at one time.

The objects of the invention are to provide a structure of this type which will properly support large and heavy doors such as are required inv a schoolroom, to enable the doors to be utilized, when closed, as a blackboard for the schoolroom, or a false wall for that portion of the schoolroom;

to provide a structure wherein the meeting edges of the closed doors will be absolutely flush and very close together so that the same may constitute a continuous blackboard and so that chalk and erasers will slide perfectly from one door to the other when so used; to hang wardrobe doors as well as doors for other purposes, on what I shall described, for the want of a better term, as radius hinges and providemeans for guiding the doors into the doorway when the doors are opened such that the doors will recede into the doorway and stand normal thereto and reduce the space required in front of the doorway for opening said doors; to provide rigid and permanent adjustments for hanging the doors with the utmost precision; to provide for universal adjustment, or adjustment in three directions, at the hinging of the doors; to make such adjustment accessible and readily manipulated by simple tools; to avoid use of tracks for the door on the floor; to minimize the floor attaching portions of the door supports and to make the same of a character which will interfere as little as possible with sweeping or othercleaning operations; to provide a structure which will retain its adjustment and proper alignment under the most severe tests of use and misuse to which schoolroom apparatus may be subjected; to provide a lower pivot for the door which will carry the weight thereof with a minimum of wear on the various parts; and to secure simplicity of construction, installation and operation.

These and other objects of the invention and the means for their attainment will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment by which the invention may be realized, and in which:

Figure 1 shows in front elevation a portion of a wardrobe having a plurality of doors hung in.

.line 3-3 of Figure 1 showing a radius hinge and the manner of attaching the same to the ceiling and floor and a door supported thereby.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the universal joint and turnbuckle connection between the floor pivot and hinge rod as seen from line 4-4, of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an elevation of an adjustable attaching bracket as seen from the line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figures 6 and 7 are sectional views of the bracket taken on lines 6-6 and 7'7 respectively of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a plan view of the track and adjust-' able supports therefor showing the relation between the track and doors when the doors are in closed position;

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates the wardrobe enclosure in general, the same being shown as having a side wall 11, a back wall 12, a top wall 13, and a floor 14, the wardrobe being open at its front, except for the doors to be hereinafter described, so as to provide a large opening or doorway, bordered, if desired, by suitable door jambs and transom covered by a casing or moulding 15. I have shown doors 16 for closing this front opening of the wardrobe, the doors preferably being mounted edge to edge and arranged in. pairs, such that each pair cooperates to close a section of the wardrobe. The fronts of the doors are provided with slates 17 mounted thereon, and adapted to be used as schoolroom blackboards. It is a feature of the present invention to mount the doors in such a manner that the slates or blackboards 17 on adjacent doors will be flush with each other when the doors are closed.

Obviously, doors of the height and width required for use in schoolrooms, which rooms usually have high ceilings, are diflicult to hang with such precision that the meeting edges of the doors and blackboards will be flush with each other to enable the blackboards to be used as a continuous surface and that the joints will not prevent the smooth passage of chalk or crayon thereover or interfere with the use of an eraser across the joints. In order to obtain this degree of accuracy in hanging the doors, I provide the several parts' next to be described.

Vertical hinge rods, indicated generally by the numeral 20 (see Figures 1 and 3) substantially the height of the door 16, are secured to the rear side of the door by adjustable upper and lower attaching brackets 21, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The hinge rod 20 is constructed of a tube 22, and pivot rods 23 and 24 inserted into the upper and lower ends thereof respectively, and rigidly secured therein by any suitable means such as being welded or riveted to the tube. The attaching brackets 21 are adapted to embrace the rods 23 and 24 at points immediately above and below the ends of the tube 22 so that the tube is adapted to fill the space between the brackets.

A collar 25 is secured, as by welding or riveting,

to the rod 24 at a point immediately under the lower bracket 21. It will be noted that sliding or longitudinal movement between the door 16 and the hinge rod 20 is prevented because the lower attaching bracket 21 is confined between the end of the tube 22 and the collar 25 and the upper bracket 21 is adapted to rest on the upper end of the tube 22. Above the upper attaching bracket and below the lower attaching bracket, the rods 23 and 24 are bent laterally to form an upper pivot or radius arm 26 and lower pivot or radius arm 2'7. It is preferable in bending these arms thatthe same are made to lie in a common plane and that the ends of both arms terminate at substantially equal distances from the axis of the vertical position or body of the hinge rod 20; and that both are screw threaded, as at 28 and 29, so as to be adjustably secured into the upper and lower pivots indicated generally by the numerals 30 and 31, shown in Figure 1. just described is, in effect, a U-shaped radius hinge adapted to be pivoted to the floor and ceiling at the ends of the radius arms and serve as a hinge support for the doors 16. It will also be understood that the door and brackets 21 are adapted to turn with reference to the hinge rod In view of the difficulty of locating the pivots 30 and 31 in vertical alignment at widely separated points, on a wardrobe ceiling and floor respectively, I provide several adjustments which will enable me to obtain perfect alignment of the doors, notwithstanding some slight inaccuracy in alignment which may be present after the pivots 30 and 31 are finally located.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, it will be seen that I provide a fixture 35 adapted to be secured to the floor 14 and receive a threaded stub shaft 36, and support said shaft on a thrust bearing 37. The lower pivot arm 27 is connected to the shaft 36 by a universal joint and turnbuckle connection comprising a bifurcated coupling 38 connected to the lower pivot arm 27 by a turnbuckle 39. vOne end of the turnbuckle is externally threaded at 40 and screwed into the coupling 38, while the other end is internally threaded to receive the threaded end of the arm 27. The threads on the arm 27 are right-hand and those in the coupling 38 are left-hand, so that by rotating the turnbuckle 39, connecting these two parts, the arm 2'7 and the coupling 38 may be readily adjusted toward and from each other, depending upon the direction which the turnbuckle is rotated. When the parts are properly adjusted they may be locked in posi- The mechanism tion by a lock nut 41. Ablock 42 is rotatably supported between tines 43 of the coupling 38, on

bearings 44, formed on each side of the back, and

is internally threaded on an axis normal to that of the bearings 44 to receive a threaded stub shaft 36. A kerf 45 is provided in theupper end of the shaft 36 so that by means of a screw driver or wrench the elevation of the parts just described with respect to the floor may be varied by turning the shaft 36. A look nut 46 is disposed at the upper end of the shaft 36 to lock the shaft in the block 42 in its adjusted position.

The upper pivot 30 comprises a fixture 47 secured in any suitable manner to the top wall'or ceiling 13 of the wardrobe in alignment with the fixture 35 on the floor. A bolt 48 is screwed into- 'the fixture 47 and adapted to be locked in adjusted position by means of a lock nut 49. The upper pivot arm 26 is connected to the bolt 48 by a universal joint and turnbuckle connection comprising a coupling 50 and a turnbuckle 51, like the coupling 38 and turnbuckle 39 above described. A block 52 similar to the block 42 is mounted in the coupling 50 on ,bearings 53, formed on each side-of the block, and is drilled to receive the bolt' 48.

From the above it will be observed that I provide a vertical adjustment to allow for slight variations in the length of the hinge rods 20 or variation in the height of the wardrobes and that the mechanism is such that it may be easily and readily installed and adjusted. Moreover, my universal joint-turnbuckle pivot connection is particularly advantageous in the event the pivot pins are not in exact alignment with respect to one another. It is obvious that a very slight misalignment would cause considerable friction or wear on a radius hinge mechanism of this kind but for the adjustability of my universal joint. This feature also makes it possible to open and close the doors more easily notwithstanding slight irregularities of installation, because the relative movements between the parts enable the mechanism to operate with a minimum of wear and strain. Furthermore, this mechanism enables me to more readily adjust the position of the door with respect to the pivots either at the time of installation or subsequent thereto in case the floor should settle, or if from some other cause the parts get out of alignment.

Obviously by rotating the turn buckles in one direction, the top or bottom of the door will be drawn toward its corresponding pivots whereas by rotating the turnbuckles in the opposite direction these parts will be separated. By this means I obtain an easily operable adjustment and one which may be easily manipulated after installation.

Referring now to Figures 5, 6 and '1, it will be seen that the brackets 21 attaching the hinge rods 20 to the door are adjustable transversely of the rods, that is, in a direction from side to side, so that'the location of the rods may be adjusted laterally with respect to the door. This adjustment is obtained by an assembly next to i registering slots 66? therethrough which receive screws 67 that are threaded into the base plate 60. The slots preferably extend in a direction transverse to the pivot rod 23 (or 24) thus enabling the pair of plates 62-63 to be slid laterally when the screws 67 are loosened. In order to obtain a minute adjustment by this lateral movement, I preferably turn down the edges of the outer plate 62, as at 68, opposite the ends of the slot 66, which edges lie in a vertical position with respect to the door and base plate 60. These turned down edges also engage and confine the ends of the inner plate 63 so that both plates are adapted to be moved as a unit at the time of adjustment. At a middle part of the turned down edge 68 1' rotatably insert an adjusting screw 69, the head of which bears against the turned down portion and the inner end of which is threaded into a cleat 70 positioned between the base plate 60 and the inner plate 63. For convenience inmanufacture and assembly I have shown this cleat 70 carried by the clamping screws 67 which accordingly prevent the cleats from moving laterally with respect to the base plate 60. The adjusting screws 69 are rotatable in the turned down edges of the outer plate, as a result of which these edges of the plate are adapted to be moved toward the cleat by screwing up on one of the adjusting screws 69. An adjusting screw and cleat is provided at the opposite end of the plate 62, that is, on the opposite side. of the pivot rod so that lateral adjustment is secured by unscrewing one of the adjusting screws and screwing up on the other.

Obviously the several adjustments above described will enable me to obtain a three dimensional adjustment of the door, as a result of which the doors may be hung with respect to one another with the greatest amount of accuracy and precision to present a smooth plane surface when the doors are closed.

It is to be observed that I have provided, by the structure above described, a door which is mounted upon a radiushinge member extending all the way from top to bottom of the door, securing thereby not only a rigidity independent of the rigidity of the door, but obtaining also means for accurately and permanently adjusting the pivotal support so the doors will close and form an exactly registering flush closure, The pivots 30, 31 of the door are offset with respect thereby by virtue of the radius arms 26 and 27, so that the door revolves about the pivots as distinguished from rotating with respect thereto, and rotates with respect to the body of the hinge. For the purpose to which the particular doors here described are to be used, it is preferable to attach the hinging means or rods 20 substantially midway between the side edges of the door, but obviously this may be varied as found desirable or necessary.

Referring now to Figures 1, 2, 8 and 10, it will be seen that at the upper corner of the door which swings into the wardrobe, I provide a track which preferably is mounted substantially per-- pendicular to the plane of the door when the door is closed and lies substantially in the plane of the door when the door is open. This track '75 is mounted by appropriate cleats '76 to the ceiling of the wardrobe or other compartment. The support is preferably adjustable so that in hanging or adjusting the doors, the tracks may be placed in exact position for enabling the door to stand in the plane of the doorway when closed and in a that said cleats '76 are provided with slots '7"! in a direction transverse to the'track, and the cleats are supported by screws o rother devices '78 passing through said slots. This adjustment 'trans- Verse to the tracks therefore obtains anladjust= ment transverse to the door when open or longitudinally of the upper edge of the door when t'he door is closed. In making the hinge adjustment to bring the doors into exact registration with each other, a corresponding adjustment isvmade of the tracks 75, as will be understood by inspec tion of the relationships shown in Figures 1,12, 8 and 10. j

The rear edge of the ceiling 13 is spaced from the rear wall 12 and is supported on a wall angle 81 by an auxiliary support 82 as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The wall angle is adapted to support a bumper 83 of any suitable material, against which the door is adapted to come to rest when it' is opened, (see Figure 3. The wall angle 81 is made adjustable by means of the screws '79 and the slots (Figures 2 and 3) to facilitate the installation of the ceiling in the wardrobes having -a slight variation in depth.

The door 16 has a guide roller positioned at its upper edge and adapted to ride in the traclr and engage the side walls thereof to guide one edge of the door into the wardrobe through the doorway as the door is opened to the position shown in Figure 1. The roller 90 is supported on a forwardly projecting tongue 91 formed'on the top of a plate 92 which plate is secured to the top of the door near one corner. Thevtongue 91 is adapted to position the roller at the front end of the track at a point somewhatforward of the plane or front of the door, and in proximity with the casing or moulding 15 which is adapted to hide the end of the track or guide channel and the roller as seen in Figure 11, where the door is in an open or closed position.

Positioning the roller forward of thecplane of the door enables one to use a straight track in combination with the radius hinge mounting means above described and mount the door sothat when the door is opened and closed the vertical edges of the door will immediately recede from the edge of an adjacent door, and therefore not interfere or strike said adjacent edges. This is not possible of accomplishment with mechanism like that shown unless the position of the ,guide' roller is actually in or forward of the front surface or plane of the door. If the roller is behind the front plane of the door, the initial opening movement imparted to the edge of the door will be toward an adjacent door. It is important to avoid the movement of one door toward an adjacent door particularly when the doors are slatefaced and the edges of the slate are finished to cooperate with similar edges on adjacent-doors to make a joint over which one may write and erase freely. It will be seen that the mechanism above described is one which employs a straight track and also prevents interference between the edges of adjacent slate-faced doors to prevent the slates from being chipped. It may be said that the movement imparted to the edges of the door in opening and closing will always be within the space or span between, or defined by, planes passing through the vertical edges of the door and normal to the plane of the door when the door is closed.

Finally, I provide locking means 93-94 on the edge of the door remote from the guide roller 90 to hold the doors in closed position. The locking means 93-94 is such that when the doors are closed they will be held firmly to prevent them from rattling when the blackboard is being written upon or erasures are made thereon.

It will be seen that my radius hinge-track mechanism permits me to mount a door in a doorway in such a manner that the door may be opened by a combined sliding and swinging movement which causes the door to recede into the wardrobe, or in other words, into the doorway, and come to rest normal to the plane of the doorway with the front edge of the door substantially in the plane of the doorway, and take up no more space than that required for the thickness of the door and also to require a clearance space in front of the doorway less than that of the width of the door. Moreover I am able to mount a plurality of doors edge to edge across a doorway so that the doors when opened will recede into the doorway and nest together in pairs normal to the doorway.

While I have described what now appears to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that the structure illustrated and described herein is susceptible of modification without departing from the spirit of my invention nor exceeding the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A door and means for slidably and swingably hanging the same in a doorway so the vertical edges thereof will not interfere with structures disposed adjacent thereto when said door is opened and closed, comprising hinge means mounted on an axis remote from the plane of the door for swingably supporting the door, a straight track having one end thereof disposed in the plane of the front surface of said door, in combination with a guide on the door having an axis located in the front plane of the door and adapted to cooperate with the track, whereby the movement imparted to the edges of said door in opening and closing will always be within the span defined by planes passing through the vertical edges of the door and normal to the plane of the door when the door is closed.

2. In combination with a door, a radius member therefor extending from the top to the bottom of the door and projecting laterally therefrom at the top and bottom thereof, upper and lower brackets for securing said member to the door, said member comprising a tube and laterally extending arms secured in the ends of said tube and extending therefrom in a common plane to upper and lower pivots respectively for supporting said door, the ends of said tube forming abutments disposed proximate said brackets respectively to prevent the door from moving longitudinally with respect to said member.

3. A door and means for hanging the same in a doorway, comprising radius hinge means mounted on an axis remote from the plane of the door for swingably supporting the door, a straight track moiuited normal to the doorway and having one end extending forwardly of the plane of said doorway, and a guide on the door extending forwardly of the plane of the door and adapted to cooperate with said track, whereby the movement imparted to the edges of said door in opening and closing will always be within the span defined by planes passing through the vertical edges of the door and normal to the plane of the door when the door is closed.

4. A door and means for hanging the same in a doorway, comprising radius hinge means mounted on an axis remote from the plane of the door for swingably supporting the door, a straight track mounted normal to and above the doorway and having one end extending forwardly of the plane of said doorway, and a guide on the door extending forwardly of the plane of the door to cooperate with said track, whereby the movement imparted to the edges of said door in opening and closing will always be within the span defined by planes passing through the vertical edges of the door and normal to the plane of the door when the door is closed.

5. A door and means for hanging the same in a doorway, comprising radius hinge means mounted on an axis remote from the plane of the door for swingably supporting the door, a straight track mounted normal to the doorway and having one end extending forwardly of the plane of said doorway, and a guide on the door extending forwardly of the plane of the door to slide in the track, whereby the movement imparted to the edges of said door in opening and closing will always be within the span defined by planes passing through the vertical edges of the door and normal to the plane of the door when the door is closed.

EDWARD H. ELLISON. 

